Most of us would have to admit to buying or at least eyeing off the odd piece of fake designer fashion.
Lets face it, places like Bali and Thailand are famous for their cheap knock-offs - most visitors allocate a whole day to heckling for a bargain.
But these days you don't even have to leave Australia - you can find a pretty good selection of counterfeit goods at your local market.
And it's not just desighner labels from far away places being copied - Australians are ripping off Australians in their own backyards.
But while most Aussies view these stalls as a great place to snare a bargain - it's more than just the owners of the genuine articles being impacted.
According to recent reports, counterfeiting robs Australia of more than $1 billion every year.
Firstly, it's a tax-free business funded by those of us who do pay tax.
Secondly, it costs Australian companies hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost business as well as fees paid to anti-counterfeit organisations and private detectives.
Not to mention the money spent on Copyright and Trademarks.
As well as the economic impact, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, "counterfeiters run illicit business in which criminal networks thrive."
According to the OECD's report:
"These illicit activities steal market share from legitimate businesses and undermine innovation, with negative implications for economic growth.
Bribery associated with counterfeiting and piracy weakens the effectiveness of public institutions at the expense of society at large.
Moreover, the savings that consumers may achieve by knowingly purchasing lower-priced counterfeit or pirated products need to be considered in a broader context. Depending on the product, consumers can be worse off."
Despite the negative impacts on Australia, little is being done by the government to eliminate what has become an increasingly widespread problem.
At the end of the day though it's all about supply and demand...and while we continue to save a few bucks on fakes, counterfeiting groups will continue to thrive - and we'll be the ones funding their tax-free lifestyle.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
About Me
- nicole madigan everest
- Nicole is an Australian journalist, presenter and communications consultant. She spent several years as a News Limited journalist, writing for a variety of local newspapers and magazines. Following this, Nicole was a reporter and presenter with the Nine Network, filing stories for Brisbane magazine program Extra, lifestyle show Weekend Extra and National Nine News. She is now a freelance journalist, writing for a variety of publications. Her special interests are features, lifestyle, current affairs, women, parenting/family and health. Nicole is also a public relations and communications consultant. www.nicolemadigan.webs.com
Posts
Some thoughts on your article (since you asked!)
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, some criticisms:
1. I very much doubt that counterfeit clothing is tax-free. The people manufacturing the counterfeits would be paying tax on the component materials, the cost of which is carried-over to the purchaser. Secondly, the Goods and Services tax is paid upon purchase of all clothing items.
2. Most clothes are imported from China these days. Very little is made in Australia. Yet clothing still costs as much as if it were locally-made. It comes to a point when one asks why it is that some poorly-treated Chinese worker is being paid $1 a day to make clothes whilst the purchaser might be asked to pay $50 or $100. Shoes is an excellent example of this appalling exploitation. Who benefits from this system? Not the purchaser and not the person who made the items, that's for sure.
3. Label brands often apply absurd mark-ups on their products. This is their choice, but that sort of over-pricing only promotes a black market, particularly in light of point 2 above.
4. Criminal networks may make counterfeit clothes. Criminal networks may also operate "legit" clothing companies too. At the end of the day, who knows? Criminality operates in all markets and across all cultures. But one has to question the ethics of manufacturing clothes in certain third world nations who's governments oppress their people and stifle democracy.
That said :-
5. People put a lot of effort into developing unique designs and unique artworks, and are entitled to expect that their work won't be plagarised and that they receive moral and financial credit for their work.
6. Counterfeiting is illegal, and hence is punishable under the law. It is the duty of all Australians to respect the law.
I think you rightly point out that this is a supply-and-demand issue. As far as I see it, it is not the sole responsibility of the purchaser nor the manufacturer.
It should be noted that the Commonwealth Government, through the Australian Customs Service, is constantly monitoring for the importation of counterfeit materials. What's locally-produced is obviously not their responsibility, and whether you feel the Customs Service is working effectively is a matter for debate.
Finally, on a technicality, copyright doesn't cost a cent. Under the Copyright Act 1968, copyright is applied when an illustration, design or photograph is created. There is no registration component. It is trademarks that must be registered, and cost a small sum to administer.
Many counterfeit goods are sold at markets and are, in fact, sold tax-free.
ReplyDeleteMarkets do little to stop the trade, and while the Australian Government may have laws in place, the problem is as big as it ever was.
Label brands running their business in Australia pay high business tax as well as staff and operating costs.
They run a genuine business and counterfeiters are, in effect, stealing.
While Copyright may not technically cost a cent, as you point out, the businesses costs in ensuring logos and designs do not breach Copyright laws and monitoring other businesses and designs to protect their own etc is a cost to genuine businesses.
Once the costs of Trademarks etc are also added, the overall cost is huge.
At the end of the day counterfeiting is illegal an business stealing from legitimate ones.